I too suffer 12 hour migraine headaches after drinking a single diet soda.
The first time it happened was after staying up all night playing “Empire” on the VAX-750 at Interactive Graphic Systems back in 1984. When the sun came up, I got up from the ADM-3 terminal and raided the fridge for something to drink. The only choice was “Diet Dr. Pepper.” I guzzled the 12 ounce can and started to drive home from Woodland Hills, California to Northridge, California. About five miles down the road I started to experience the worst headache of my life. I thought that I was going to die. But I made it home alive.
I simply cannot believe that Aspartame is legal! Yet it is.